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Ecommerce Success via Content Marketing – Why and How to Tell Your Story

19 Jun

Marketing is storytelling – Businesses that tell their story memorably succeed, those that don’t eventually fail. This isn’t news. It’s been true for as long as people have been doing business. E-commerce marketing poses additional challenges due to the changing technology landscape and the sheer scale of the competition you’re up against. To keep up with Google’s ever-changing algorithm, as well as the many thousands of competitors out there, you have to keep telling new and engaging stories, and you need to keep on the lookout for new online marketing tactics that will help you syndicate your stories effectively and efficiently. In this post we’ll highlight the simple three step methodology that serves as the basis for our success with “Content Marketing”.

In e-commerce marketing, there is always room for improvement. To keep up with Google’s ever-changing algorithm, as well as the many thousands of competitors out there, you have to keep looking for new online marketing tactics. In this post we’ll highlight the simple three step methodology that serves as the basis for successful content marketing.

1) Build a Content Base

You’re the star of the show, but a great star is always in touch with their audience

Google loves content! Devote energy into building a content base as part of your e-commerce marketing campaign. If you don’t have a blog; start one! Not creating presentations, videos, podcasts, etc.? Big mistake! Get busy!

Beyond the benefit of increasing your search ranking, your content defines your brand and creates opportunities to interact with potential customers. If you’re reading this, you’re interacting with Vimi. Who knows? Some time down the line you might choose to become one of our happy clients…

Don’t hide behind excuses related to technology. Not sure how to start a blog? You can publish directly on Facebook or Linkedin. Want to take it a step further? WordPress is probably the best platform for blogging – it’s free and it powers “only” about 22% of the entire web. Setting up the blog is a simple technical task you’ll have to deal with once – and it’s worth the effort. Your commitment to content must be ongoing, especially since the content you create must be compelling and engaging, which bring us to our next point:

2) Engage Your Visitors

Not caring about content is probably the biggest mistake an e-marketer can make. Fifty-word posts and keyword stuffing will get you nowhere – “Garbage in, garbage out” applies here. If you want your audience to care about what you have to say, you better make the required effort to make your content ENGAGING.

Engaging content is useful, educational, inspirational, promotional, or just plain interesting. The best content is

Put yourself in your visitors’ shoes to gauge the quality of the content you create – Would you find your blog posts helpful or annoying? Unless you truly care about what you’re doing, no one else will and if your content bores you, it bores your visitors, too. Need ideas for topics to cover? Try a few of these:

Interview clients and suppliers – Beyond the value as a marketing piece this is a great to strengthen your relationship with them.

Won an award? Promote it! – Your fans will find it interesting, plus it shows that you are a mover and shaker in the industry, which helps to build your brand.

Explain your working process in detail – Highlight the benefits the process has for client.

Etc…

The best type of content is “Evergreen” – It’s not time specific and preserves it’s value over time. This post for example will be just as relevant 3 years from today…

3) Repurpose Your Content

Blog posts, comments, and even the updates you share in e-mail newsletters can be polished, repurposed, and redistributed. If you’ve made the effort to create good content once – you really need to maximize your ROI by syndicating your quality content to absolute best of your ability. Using this post as an example again – We’ve shared it on Facebook, Linkedin, our newsletter, and we’ll probably share it again sometime in the future. ..

Feel more comfortable creating short video clips? Why not create a short how-to video relating to your products/services. Share it in your newsletter and on Instagram, Pinterest, or even Vine. Need inspiration? Look at Lowe’s Vine campaign – They shared a series of 6-second videos that became an instant hit with viewers because rather than just promote products, Lowe opted to share money saving tips (who doesn’t love saving money?). It proved to be a long-term approach to social media and e-commerce marketing that worked marvelously.

Afterword

In most businesses the vital stories and intelligence that should serve as the basis for creating a good content repository are already there, but no one ever had the time to convert them into shareable web content. The key to getting started is not to wrack your brains in an effort to develop new ideas. Start with the stories you’re already sharing in your team and with customers. Remember – Fast beats perfect…